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LONGVIEW — In this part of Texas, residents stock up on bottled water in between boil notices. It’s part of life in a place where water pipes are old, corroded and falling apart.
In the High Plains, near Lubbock, farmers worry that their groundwater wells will run dry.
In North Texas, local elected leaders and business tycoons frantically search for new sources of water to meet the demand of a surging population.
No matter the region, there are water challenges. By one estimate, millions of Texans could face serious water shortages in five years if nothing is done.
And this fall, state lawmakers hope voters will approve $20 billion for water projects over the next two decades. If voters agree, Proposition 4, on the November ballot, will be the biggest state investment in water in Texas history.
“Texas has been remarkably forward-thinking in creating financing mechanisms to address water infrastructure,” said Sarah Schlessinger, CEO of Texas Water Foundation, a nonprofit that educates Texans on water issues. “The challenge is that our water infrastructure needs far exceed the available funds.”
If adopted, the state would create a new dedicated funding source for water, wastewater and flood infrastructure across the state.
A portion of existing state sales tax revenue — up to $1 billion annually — would be deposited into the Texas Water Fund each year, starting in 2027. No new taxes would be created. However, the money would only be transferred to the fund when sales tax collections exceed $46.5 billion in a given year. The past two fiscal years have surpassed that amount. Assuming the state’s growth continues, there will be enough money available to dedicate the $1 billion to the fund.
The Texas Water Development Board would manage the fund and allocate the money. Funding would be divided into two categories: water supply projects and other existing water programs.
The first bucket of money would expand the overall volume of water available in Texas. That could include the desalination of seawater and brackish water, which is the process of removing salt from seawater or salty groundwater, allowing it to be used for drinking water, irrigation, and industrial purposes. This fund would also include fixing leaking pipes, water reuse, including produced water from the oil and gas industry, conservation strategies and constructing permitted reservoirs. Some of these may be included in the State Water Plan, a guide the state uses to manage the long-term demand for water resources. It also proposes water supply solutions to meet demand and must be updated every five years.
The second bucket would go to existing water programs, including improving flood control infrastructure and flood mitigation, ensuring clean drinking water, and agricultural water conservation. There is no specified breakdown for how this money must be divided among these programs and allocations would be determined in the future.
Some environmental groups are concerned that certain projects, like reservoirs, will be prioritized as a form of new water supply and take the land of farmers and residents who live in areas where they plan to be built.
“It’s terrific to have funding for fixing leaking pipes, increasing water efficiency, and developing innovative ways to provide water supply, but we also need to focus on those aspects of water planning that aren’t working for people, specifically reservoir projects,” said Janice Bezanson, senior policy director at Texas Conservation Alliance, in an interview. The group advocates for the environment, wildlife and water conservation.
There appears to be no formal opposition to the amendment. However, some conservative groups have come out against the idea, arguing that spending should not be written into the Texas Constitution.
As part of the fund, lawmakers have created a special committee to oversee the water board’s administration of the funding, and the public will have a chance to give input on how the money is being distributed.
“It’s not unchecked money going to the Water Development Board without accountability or oversight,” said Jeremy Mazur, director of infrastructure and natural resources policy for Texas 2036, at a recent Tribune event.
A report by Texas 2036, a nonprofit think tank focused on some of the state’s thorniest issues, estimated that the state needs nearly $154 billion over the next 50 years for water infrastructure. That estimate accounts for $59 billion for water supply projects, $74 billion for leaky pipes and infrastructure maintenance, and $21 billion to fix broken wastewater systems.
Water stressors look different across the state. In West Texas, Central Texas and along the coast, communities are in dire need of a new way to obtain water. In the East, communities are grappling with aging infrastructure that’s leaking.
About 17% of retail public water systems are either at risk of failure or have already failed in 17 counties located in the Neches River Basin, according to Kelley Holcomb, general manager of the Angelina & Neches River Authority. This has led the East Texas river authority to take over and repair some of these small, rural water systems. Boil-water notices have also become the norm.
“We issue boil-water notices on a routine basis that we have people just dedicated to do just that,” Holcomb said at a Tribune event.
The Texas Living Waters Project, a coalition of environmental groups, reports that Texas water systems lose at least 572,000 acre-feet per year, or about 51 gallons of water per home or business connection every day through leaky pipes and makes the case that repairing these systems could recover enough water to meet the annual needs of cities like Fort Worth, El Paso, Austin, Lubbock and Laredo combined.
This aging water infrastructure also contributes to boil-water notices, in which Texans experience nearly 3,000 boil-water notices each year, often due to system failures or weather-related disruptions.
According to a recent survey by Texas 2036, 76% of respondents said they support Proposition 4 when informed it would invest $1 billion per year for 20 years in water infrastructure using existing sales tax revenue and no new taxes. This follows similar support in 2023, when nearly 78% of Texas voters approved the creation of the Texas Water Fund.
“It’s up to people in their local communities that know what their local needs are to be involved … and to have your opinions about your water supply shared and to help shape those decisions for your communities,” said Jennifer Walker, a special adviser to the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund.
Early voting begins Oct. 20 and ends Oct. 31. Election Day is Nov. 4. The deadline for counties to receive applications to vote by mail is Oct. 24. For more information on voting requirements, read our guide to voting in Texas.
Disclosure: Texas 2036, Texas Living Waters Project and Texas Water Foundation have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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